Monday, Team Russia held their first official practice for the World Cup of Hockey and I’ve got some great news. Washington Capitals brothers from another mother Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin have been paired together on the first line along with Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov.
Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov is also on Russia’s first defense pairing.
Team Russia lines: Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Kucherov; Tarasenko-Malkin-Kulemin; Namestnikov-Anisimov-Panarin.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 5, 2016
Team Russia D pairs: Orlov-Zaitsev; Emelin-Markov/Nesterov; Marchenko-Kulikov.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) September 5, 2016
When speaking with reporters after practice, Ovechkin was unsure how quickly he and his teammates would gel before the tournament begins.
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“I was working with my personal trainer in Moscow,” Ovechkin said to Sport Express, as translated by Igor Kleyner. “We haven’t changed much. Sometimes we train twice a day. My physical condition is normal. I think it will be hard during the initial warm-up games because we haven’t had any game practice. But that’s the whole purpose of these games: to get experience playing with your line-mates on the power play, penalty kill, and just work yourself into game shape.”
Photo: @TomGulittiNHL
“With Ovechkin and Kucharov, we had only one workout so it’s too early to say anything,” Kuznetsov said of his linemates to Sport Express. “But Nikita is a very talented guy and I think it will be very easy to find common ground.”
Russia’s first game is Thursday against the Czech Republic.
Here’s a look at a few other line combinations for the World Cup of Hockey
Team USA lines #WCH2016
Pacioretty – Pavelski – Kane
Parise – Stepan – Wheeler
Abdelkader – Kesler – Oshie
JVR – Dubinsky – Backes Palmieri— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) September 5, 2016
Sweden's lines: Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson, Forsberg-Backstrom-Hornqvist, Silfverberg-Kruger-Hagelin, Landeskog-Soderberg-Rakell #WCH2016
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) September 5, 2016
Canada lines: Marchand-Crosby-Bergeron, Tavares-Getzlaf-Stamkos, Couture-Toews-Seguin, Duchene-Giroux-Thornton. Perry rotating through
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 5, 2016
Prelim Team NA lines: Drouin-McDavid-Scheifele; Gaudreau-Eichel-Saad; MacKinnon-RNH-Larkin; Trocheck rotate thru Miller-Couturier-Matthews.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 5, 2016
Headline photo: Sport Express
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